Amstel Gold: Remco Evenepoel and Paula Blasi win impressively, Jorgenson suffers suspected broken collarbone

Remco Evenepoel celebrates winning the Amstel Gold Race for the first time in his career Vincent Jannink/Getty Images Share articleRemco Evenepoel burst away from Mattias Skjelmose in the final sprint to take victory at Amstel Gold, the Netherlands’ most prestigious race. The 26-year-old has shown impressive one-day form this Classics season, and will now face off with Tadej Pogacar at Liege-Bastogne-Liege next Sunday, a Monument he has won twice before. Elsewhere, rookie UAE Team ADQ rider Paula Blasi took a shock win in the women’s race, an event she was not even supposed to be entering earlier this week, while American climber Matteo Jorgenson suffered a worrying-looking shoulder injury after crashing heavily in the race’s finale. Here’s what unfolded in the rolling hills of Limburg on Sunday. Remco Evenepoel rondt het af in stijl! 👏 Ice cold finish from Remco Evenepoel! 👏#AGR26 #FLCS pic.twitter.com/f0Op0VJTFR — Amstel Gold Race (@Amstelgoldrace) April 19, 2026 One year ago, Evenepoel and Skjelmose were in a three-up sprint here with Pogacar — with the Dane pushing through late to seal the biggest win of his career. Evenepoel, having taken on the mantle of the work, was deeply frustrated — and in 2026, found himself in a sprint with Skjelmose once again. In many ways, the race progressed exactly as the Belgian would have expected — the early breakaway was reeled in calmly, and Evenepoel, with a series of impressive seated accelerations, was able to slowly whittle down the remaining riders as the finale neared. The most significant move of the race was made by FDJ’s Romain Gregoire with just under 40km remaining, bringing Skjelmose and Evenepoel along with him. They caught NSN Cycling’s Marco Frigo, the last survivor of the break, before dropping the impressive Italian on the Keutenberg with 25km left. Gregoire had looked sprightly all race, but was unable to match Evenepoel’s relentless pacing — with Skjelmose seemingly happy to sit on the wheel and wait for the sprint. However, in the event, Evenepoel’s snap was too great — as he exploded from Skjelmose’s wheel to win by five clear bike lengths. “It was a flashback to last year,” said Evenepoel. “I have more confidence now, I felt on the climbs I was the strongest today and that (Skjelmose) was on the limit when taking pulls. I had a lot of confidence I could finish it in a sprint.” His adversary agreed. “Last year I was lucky,” said Skjelmose. “This year he beat me with legs.” It perfectly sets up next Sunday’s Liege-Bastogne-Liege, in which Evenepoel and Pogacar have split the past four editions — with 19-year-old French phenom Paul Seixas also set to appear in just his second Monument, and Tom Pidcock, as revealed by The Athletic on Saturday, due to make an early return from injury. Matteo Jorgenson suffered a suspected broken collarbone after crashing heavily with 41km remaining. The American — who was racing for the first time in several weeks after a lengthy altitude training block in Tenerife — immediately abandoned after landing on his shoulder. He was visibly in extreme pain and unable to sit up. The crash occurred in the lead group after INEOS Grenadiers’ Kevin Vauquelin slid out on a damp left-hander. Jorgenson, following the Frenchman’s wheel, was unable to avoid the fallen rider and was catapulted over his handlebars. Vauquelin eventually remounted his bike and finished the race in 50th, almost three minutes down on Evenepoel. Vauquelin gaat onderuit in de bocht en neemt Matteo Jorgenson & Huub Artz met zich mee. Vauquelin goes down in the corner, taking Matteo Jorgenson and Huub Artz with him.#AGR26 #FLCS pic.twitter.com/ddNNUJuRms — Amstel Gold Race (@Amstelgoldrace) April 19, 2026 A Visma-Lease a Bike spokesperson had no immediate update on Jorgenson’s condition after the crash, with the team expected to deliver an update later on Sunday evening. The injury is a cruel blow for Jorgenson, who had tailored the first half of his season around the Ardennes Classics, with Liege-Bastogne-Liege next Sunday his principal goal. If a fracture is confirmed, it also significantly affects his preparations for July’s Tour de France, where he is slated to be Jonas Vingegaard’s key mountain domestique. The Tour begins in 10 weeks — whilst a broken collarbone can take from six to eight weeks to recover from, depending on its severity. Jorgenson’s next scheduled race after the Ardennes was set to be the Tour de Suisse on June 17. Demi Vollering and Kasia Niewadoma-Phinney stood on the podium — but neither of the former Tour de France winners were on the top step. Instead, UAE Team ADQ’s Paula Blasi took the biggest win of her career — all the more remarkable for the fact that the former triathlete only began to solely concentrate on cycling in 2024. She graduated from the development team midway through last season. 🇪🇸 Paula Blasi, remember the name! 😍 #AGR26 #AGRwomen pic.twitter.com/WQrFW5pce1 — Amstel Gold Race (@Amstelgoldrace) April 19, 2026 “I was not even supposed to be here,” the 23-year-old Spaniard said. “I just signed up yesterday for the race because we had some injuries and some sickness. So it was not even on my mind to be racing here, so I need to take a breath and accept what happened.” The other startling facts? It was Blasi’s first race in the Ardennes, she took a wrong turn at one stage, and did not know how many kilometres she had remaining to race. Having forced a gap with Vienke Nienke on the second descent of the Belemerberg, Blasi had previously been repeatedly dropped after struggling with her positioning on the undulating course — Blasi said after she decided to attack because it made her tactics simpler. She dropped Vinke with 20km remaining and began time-trialling her way home — with Niewadoma-Phinney and Vollering unable to bridge the gap in the closing kilometres. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Jacob Whitehead is a reporter for The Athletic who covers investigations, cycling, and Newcastle United. He previously worked on the news desk. In 2025, he was a Gold Award winner at the 30 to Watch journalism awards. Follow Jacob on Twitter @jwhitey98